Four degrees was the outside temperature flashing on the Rosedale Federal bank sign as I rode through Bel Air, almost dreading the fact that I would be standing outside in Washington D.C. for hours on end.

I arrived at JC at 7 a.m., yawning in the empty hallways and bundled up in layer after layer of suffocating winter clothes.

Seventeen students and two chaperones boarded the JC short bus, dashed onto the Metro, and walked down a sidewalk of our nation’s capital throughout the day.

On Jan. 24, I attended the March for Life pro-life, anti-abortion rally in Washington, D.C. with the rest of the Respect Life club to show our support for the cause. We all had to wake up early,  miss the first day of the new semester, and experience cold weather (it was the coldest day of the year.) All 17 of us were glad to be standing at the National Mall as speaker after speaker got up and spoke up for those who couldn’t speak for themselves.

People spoke out against abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment, unashamed to declare their beliefs.  The crowd was equally enthusiastic.  Cheers were heard before, during, and after every speech.  Though we couldn’t actually see the speakers over the heads of the other attendees and their signs, we were all proud to be a part of that crowd as we cheered and waved our own signs as eagerly as the other 400,000 people there.

After the rally and the march, we traipsed back to the bus tired, hungry and cold, but with smiles on our faces.  Behind those smiles was the heartening feeling that we were a part of something bigger than ourselves. It was something that was purely for the good of others, and that feeling was worth enduring any weather Mother Nature could throw at us.

Brianna Glase is a contributing writer for jcpatriot.com.